Haunted
by Sunni Southern
Summary: Havoc squad's CO, Cithria Tyeline, is haunted by childhood nightmares. In an unexpected display of midnight affection her XO becomes her source of comfort and a shoulder to cry on as she opens up and their relationship develops even further.


The young woman jerked awake, biting back a scream, for the fifth time in as many nights. Strands of her jet black hair stuck to her face and neck and she was breathing heavily. Dressed in grey sweats and her old academy tee she felt nothing like Havoc Squad's commanding officer who had spent the last ten weeks preparing her squad for an assault on an Imperial super weapon. Glancing at the clock she determined that she had only be asleep for three hours, not nearly long enough for all the stress she was under. Her XO had only been released from the med-bay three days earlier and she was also battling against the nightmares, that appeared around a specific date every year and haunted her for nights on end. She slid to the edge of her bed and dragged her fingers through her ponytail.  
Barefoot, she slid out of bed and padded silently out of her quarters, grabbing a woollen cardigan on the way out. She quietly made her way past the holocom and up to the bridge of the ship. Up on the bridge she curled up on the Captain's chair and looked out at the stars.

Lieutenant Aric Jorgan shifted in his bunk as he heard the almost silent footsteps cross the comm room. He knew it was neither of the other two male crew members and the footsteps did not originate from the direction of the med-bay, indicating that it could not be Sergeant Dorne.  
He did not know if it was his Cathar senses or the fact that he paid far more attention to the Captain than he should, but he had noticed that she had not seemed herself for a few days.  
He groped around in the dark for his boots and pulled them on, before stepping out of the crew quarters. The comm room was only lit by the emergency lighting, the only indication of power other than the gentle hum of the engines. Aric quietly made his way to the galley. He dug around for two mugs and caff sachets. Once done he carried the steaming mugs up to the bridge, where the Captain was curled up in her chair. Aric carefully handed her a mug. 'Can't sleep?'  
'No, and thanks Jorgan.'  
'Anytime.' He replied.

Ria took a sip of the caff Aric had brought her and stared out at the stars. She appreciated the fact that he didn't push her for details like Dorne may have done. She glanced over and her XO and most trusted ally, who had settled himself in one of the other chairs on the bridge. 'Shouldn't you be resting, Jorgan? You only got out of the med-bay a few days ago.'  
'I'm fine, Sir.' Aric replied, rolling his eyes. This was typical of her, thinking of the squad before herself.  
'You don't have to stay Jorgan; you should go back to bed.'  
'It's fine. It's nice not having to listen to Vik's snoring for once.' Ria laughed lightly.

The pair sat in comfortable silence, sipping their drinks. After some time Aric glanced over at the young woman. She was fiddling with something around her neck. It took a couple of minutes for him to realise what it was. It was the pendant he had given her after their respective promotions to Captain and Lieutenant. She twisted the string around her fingers as she stared out the window. He was surprised when he saw a tear trickle down her cheek. He wanted to reach over and wipe it away with his thumb, but he resisted. He just sat there, unsure what to do. Frustrated she wiped the tear away from her face herself. 'What's bothering you?'  
Ria looked up at Aric's question, before glancing back down at her hands. 'I've been having nightmares. I always do around this time of the year.' She took a deep, shaky breath. 'My childhood was comfortable, but not ideal. I didn't want to follow the path that my parents had for me. They caught wind of this, and they weren't happy. They made the decision when I was 12 to send me to a special school. It was horrible there. The teachers abused the students in an attempt to convince us that it was in our best interests to stay on planet. I was there for four years, before my parents pulled me out. But the worst bit happened about six weeks before I left.' She tucked her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin on her knees.

Aric rose to his feet and moved to crouch in front of his CO. 'It's alright; you don't have to talk about it. I think I can guess what happened.'  
Ria looked away from Aric's eyes. 'I haven't been able to properly to trust any man since. Not until now.' Her gold eyes flicked to lock with his green ones. 'I trust you, Aric.' He was surprised at her use of his first name. 'You've had my back since Ord Mantell, despite what we, what you went through. I trust you with my life, that's why I chose you to be my XO, because I knew I could trust you the most.' Her eyes began to fill with tears. 'You frightened me when you were injured on the Gauntlet; I was frightened that you wouldn't pull through, that you wouldn't be there to have my back again. I don't want that, I don't want to lose you.'  
Aric took one of her hands in his own. 'You're not going to lose me, I promise.'  
'But I nearly did.'  
'But you didn't.' He pressed his forehead to Ria's. 'It was a one off.'  
Slowly Ria wrapped her arms around Aric's neck. He, in turn, wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her from the chair and to her feet. She buried her face into the crook of his neck, having to stand on her tiptoes to make up the height distance.

Aric rubbed Ria's back with his thumb, comforting her. It was unusual for him to show such emotion, such affection, but since their encounter on Hoth they had begun to open up to each other a little. Aric released her and stepped back, but kept his hands on her shoulders. 'You need sleep.'  
'I can't.'  
Aric looked deep into her eyes. 'You can, I know you can. Come on.' He guided her from the bridge and back into the main body of the ship. He led her to her quarters. 'We need you at full strength; you won't be there if you don't sleep.' Ria nodded, finally agreeing. 'Goodnight, Sir.'  
He turned to head back to the crew quarters, but Ria's hand on his chest. She went up onto her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. 'Thank you Aric.' She whispered, before entering her quarters and closing the door behind her. Aric stared at the door for a moment longer before heading back to his own bunk.


End file.
